Wiggins wins Tour of Britain

Sir Bradley Wiggins has won the Tour of Britain as Mark Cavendish claimed victory on the last stage of the event.

Britain's maiden Tour de France champion in 2012 ended the tenth staging of the Tour of Britain safely in the peloton to keep his lead ahead of Martin Elmiger. Wiggins moved into the overall lead after stage three.

Cavendish took his third stage win as the Manxman sprinted to victory to record the same number of wins 12 months ago. For Wiggins, it is his first overall victory since taking the gold medal at London 2012 in the Olympic time trial.

Cavendish powered to the finish line ahead of Elia Viviani and Sam Bennett to clinch back-to-back wins after taking the honours on Saturday, and was brilliantly led out by Omega Pharma QuickStep team-mate Alessandro Petacchi in the final few hundred metres.

Ten laps over an 8.8-kilometre circuit in central London provided the finale to the Tour of Britain, and two of Britain's cycling stars ended the event on a high, with Cavendish making it win No. 10 in the competition. Wiggins' mother rang the bell for the final lap of the event.

"At the moment, it is just relief that the job is done," Wiggins said. "From the minute you have won the time trial [on stage three] you believe you can win the general classification, but it is not over until you have crossed that line.

"You can't fail to hear the crowd. It is a bit like the Olympics. I expected it as every year the race finishes in London it has been fantastic. It was the same today."

After enduring a tricky start to his Manchester United career, perhaps it is fair that Marcos Rojo celebrated so boisterously as he watched his first professional club Estudiantes beat fierce rivals Gimnasia